Poetry 125: Quiet

(photo by me, taken this morning)

Quiet.

"Our culture made a virtue of living only as extroverts. We discouraged the inner journey, the quest for a center. So we lost our center and have to find it again."  - Anais Nin

Freeze.

Do not move a muscle.

Look up,
the snow is falling.

Shhhh...

Let us not speak.

Let us not argue.
Let us not make decisions
about bombing
Syrian targets, or
not bombing
Syrian targets.
Staying in a job
or relationship,
or leaving a job
or a relationship.

Allow the sound of
small nothings
gently cover the treetops.

Tilt your head
up toward the heavens,
and allow these

frozen geometrical figures

to bless your perfect
eyelashes
and rosy cheeks.

Watch one single snowflake
meander all the way

down

from the infinite

until the very moment it kisses
the earth.

Let the stillness
of this ineffable winter
penetrate your being.

Let go

of the before

and the after.

For this one moment,

let us be quiet.

Then, proceed mindfully.

-Me

(A Meditation Inspired By Poet Pablo Neruda)